Admirals Club Day Pass Giveaway: Share your best foodie tip for a chance to win!

(Editor’s note: AJ from Live from a Lounge has offered a second Admirals Club day pass, so I’ll pick two winners at random. Thanks AJ!!) I heard from a reader JJ who runs a website that serves as a news and deals resource for the blind and visually impaired community. He wrote to tell me that he had an Admirals Club day pass that he won’t be able to use, and so that it doesn’t go to waste he’s kindly offered it up for a reader giveaway.

To use the day pass you must “present it at the Admirals Club lounge for admittance before July 31, 2013.”

Since it’s expiring soon, I’ll make this easy.

One of the reasons I love to travel is that I enjoy searching out great food. Anytime I visit a city I look for a place to eat that’s off the tourist path.

We have some great places to eat in Dallas. When friends come to town, I’ll often take them to eat at one of my favorite restaurants off the tourist path: King’s Noodle for the hand pulled Taiwan style beef dry noodle, La’ Me for Vietnamese bánh mì and iced coffee, Jimmy’s Food Store for a fantastic Italian meatball sandwich, Nuevo Leon for chicken enchiladas with chocolate coffee mole sauce (truly, the food of the gods!), The Mecca for chicken fried steak, or (just added to the list) Pecan Lodge for BBQ.

I’m always working on my list of places to try, so to enter the giveaway just tell me the best off the tourist path restaurant in your hometown – the one awesome place that only locals know about.

I’ll have a random drawing at noon (CDT) tomorrow, July 25, to pick a winner.

When in LA and in the mood for really good Korean food, head to Koreatown, which spans several blocks near Downtown. You can find delicious, affordable places everywhere — supermarket food courts (search for Koreatown Galleria), 24-hour noodle shops (my favorite: Myung Dong Kyoja), and a huge variety of Korean BBQ places with all different types of offerings (Palsaik Samgyupsal has 8 types of marinated pork belly!).

Mangarre Monzo in Little Tokyo in LA has amazing handmade udon. I love Foragers City and Monument Lane for brunch in NY, as well as Great Burrito and Pizza for 24 hour tacos, which are actually one of my favorite place to get tacos not just in NYC but rival anywhere else in the world.

Jocko’s Steakhouse in Nipomo California (the half way point between LA and SF) on the 101.

Hidden back in a neighborhood, it’s an unassuming joint. Typical wait for a table during the week is 2-3 hours so it’s best to grab a reservation via phone. Opentable? Pfft.

The Portion sizes are epic. Every meal is served with 5 different appetizer type portions along with a salad. About an hour later, your steak shows up. They cook them over an open flame thus it takes longer for it to cook. The other factor is typically the steaks are several inches thick..

The best value is the Filet Mignon. At $29 it isn’t pricey but it’s an incredible value when you consider it’s a 23oz glorious piece of beef IN California no less.

If you’re ever in L.A., you should go to The Grove’s farmers market and head to Dupar’s. It’s like a Diners joint but have amazing buttermilk pancakes! And its open 24 hours, so you don’t have an excuse not to go!